In the Minnesota Timberwolves’ nearly 30 year history, they have had their ups and downs on the defensive front. With that being said, there have been plenty of players over the years who excelled at creating defensive pressure and forcing the opponent into turning the ball over.
Although the Minnesota Timberwolves’ defense has been below-average during the last few seasons, they’ve still finished in the top 10 in forced turnovers in three of the last five seasons. The ability to come up with steals and force the opponent into making mistakes is a game-changer. Steals can sway momentum, make up for offensive inconsistency, and sometimes change the whole course of a game.
This upcoming year, Tom Thibodeau will look to continue transforming the team’s defense with Jeff Teague coming in averaging 1.23 steals a season ago. However, the Wolves may have a secret weapon on defense coming off the bench.
Since Kris Dunn and Ricky Rubio were both traded, the backup point guard role is Tyus Jones’ for the taking. Jones averaged 2.98 steals per 48 minutes this past season, good enough for fourth in the NBA, finishing ahead of elite defenders like Chris Paul, Kawhi Leonard, and John Wall. Although the sample size is small, the 21-year-old could wind up on this list one day if he continues to make strides in the right direction.
Although this list contains no current Timberwolves, there are multiple players on the team right now who could break into the top five by stringing together a few solid defensive seasons.
5. Doug West
A good place to start this list is with an original Timberwolves player. Doug West was chosen by Minnesota in the second round of the 1989 NBA Draft after playing four years at Villanova. He comes in at fifth on this list with 428 total steals throughout his time in Minnesota.
West came off the bench as a shooting guard during the Wolves’ inaugural 1989-1990 season and worked his way up to a consistent starter by the 1991-1992 season. Many Wolves fans today are unaware of the contributions that West made to the franchise in the early ‘90s. In addition to his stellar defensive play, West was known for his dazzling dunks. Dunks like these earned him a spot in the 1992 NBA dunk contest:
Unfortunately for West, what goes up must come down. After coming off of a career season in 1992-1993 in which he averaged over 19 points per game and over one steal per game, his numbers took a sharp decline. When Isaiah Rider was drafted in 1993 to play shooting guard, West was forced into the small forward role, where he could never reclaim his shooting guard form.
During his nine years with the Timberwolves franchise, West amassed 609 games played and was the last remaining player from the inaugural season before being traded to Vancouver in 1998.
4. Sam Mitchell
Another original Timberwolves player, Sam Mitchell pops up on this list due to his ten seasons in a Wolves jersey. His total of 449 steals is good enough to earn him the fourth spot on this countdown.
Mitchell was a 6’6” small forward who started his NBA career with the Timberwolves after playing several years in France. The Wolves took a chance on him as a free agent before their inaugural season and it definitely paid off. He averaged over 12 points per game in his first NBA season while starting 30 total games for the Wolves. He kept up his solid play for a couple years before being traded to the Indiana Pacers in 1992.
Fortunately, after a short stint with the Pacers, Mitchell returned to the Timberwolves in 1995 to play seven more seasons. During his second spell in the Twin Cities, Mitchell averaged double-digit points in multiple seasons despite being well into his thirties. Mitchell played for the Wolves until he was 38 years old, and to this day he is second in franchise history in games played, behind only Kevin Garnett.
After retiring, Mitchell went straight into coaching, where he spent a couple years as an assistant before becoming coaching the Toronto Raptors from 2004-2009 and then later became the interim head coach of the Timberwolves after Flip Saunders’ tragic death in 2015.
3. Corey Brewer
Corey Brewer appears on this list as one of the more recent Timberwolves players, as he was drafted by the team seventh overall in 2007. Brewer’s steal total with the franchise came out to 502 after his departure in 2014. Just like Sam Mitchell, Brewer had two separate stints with the Wolves. He played in Minnesota from 2007-2011 and 2013-2014.
During Brewer’s first four seasons with the Wolves, he averaged at least one steal per game in each season, as well as averaging 13 points per game in the 2009-2010 campaign. In 2011, Brewer was traded to the New York Knicks as a piece in the blockbuster trade that sent Carmelo Anthony to New York, putting his days with the Wolves on hold.
In 2013, it was announced that the Wolves would bring back Corey Brewer on a three-year, $15 million contract. During Brewer’s second spell in the Twin Cities, he averaged about two steals per game and made a big impact on both sides of the floor during the 2013-2014 season before being traded to the Houston Rockets in December of 2014.
During Brewer’s second stint with the team, he tied Kevin Love’s franchise record of 51 points in a game, (The record was later beaten by Mo Williams) and became the only player in NBA history to record at least 50 points and six steals in the same game.
Brewer’s highlights from the record-tying game:
2. Ricky Rubio
Ricky Rubio’s defensive prowess is definitely something that will be missed during the upcoming season. His fast hands and ability to pickpocket an unsuspecting dribbler is remarkable, to say the least. After spending all six of his NBA seasons with the Timberwolves, he was traded to the Utah Jazz over the offseason.
Like many great defensive point guards, Rubio has amassed steals at an impressive rate. He tallied 747 steals over his six seasons, edging out the next closest player on the list by over 200 steals. Over his NBA career so far, he has averaged an impressive 2.1 steals per game. In the 2013-2014 campaign, Rubio led the entire league in steals with 191 in just one season.
In addition to steals, Ricky Rubio has also averaged over 10 points per game and 8.5 assists per game over his career. His impact as a floor general on the offensive side of the court is often underestimated due to his defensive skill and lack of a long-range shot, but his role as the facilitator is essential and his court vision is second to none.
Rubio’s defensive pressure, hustle, and awareness were big factors on the Timberwolves’ team defense over the past couple years, and it led to them being able to force such a high amount of turnovers. Plus, Rubio’s steals often led to offensive sparks like this one:
1. Kevin Garnett
No list is complete without the Big Ticket himself. Kevin Garnett holds almost every possible Timberwolves franchise record, and many of them are not even close. His steal total is an astonishing 1315, which is almost double Ricky Rubio’s 747 steals.
Garnett’s statistical dominance can be attributed to him playing fourteen seasons for the Timberwolves, but his sheer talent in every area of the game is more responsible. As a power forward, he still averaged 1.4 steals per game over his time as a Timberwolf, which is a very high number for a big man.
Garnett’s defensive excellence in the low post often led to his steals. His gritty, no holds barred play style on defense allowed him to intercept passes going into big men or pick the pockets of unsuspecting players trying to post up. Garnett would put his body on the line on every play to make sure the opposing team did not get close to the basket.
This attitude and effort resulted in KG winning NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2008 and being named to 12 NBA all-defensive teams over the course of his career. However the most valuable individual award that Garnett won was the MVP award in 2004 when he averaged over 24 points per game, 14 rebounds per game, 5 assists per game, and 1.5 steals per game for the Wolves.
Next: Minnesota Timberwolves: Top 5 block leaders in franchise history
Although Garnett left for the Celtics to win a championship, he is still regarded as the greatest Timberwolves player of all time.